Intro

After several great trips to Catalina, including completing the Trans Catalina Trail in 2013, we kept meaning to return to spend some time at Little Harbor. It's an unusual place, both wild and "civilized" at the same time. The campground features spots with shelters, tables, and there's running water, even a sink and outdoor shower. It's location, on the far west side of the island, makes it a great starting point for some other hikes, mainly south on the west coast.

The trip was to be sort of another mini-trans Catalina: boat to Avalon, then somehow over to Little Harbor, then back from Two Harbors. As I mentioned this many times before, camping on Catalina can be expensive and cumbersome. We decided on the trip relatively late, and most campgrounds were almost full. Also, the ferry schedule has to be consulted carefully as Two Harbors sees limited service, especially off-season. This time we had no choice: we'll have to take the ferry from Long Beach, but then return to San Pedro and take a rideshare car from there back to our car.

Another issue was transportation. Black Jack camp was full, and to walk from Avalon to Little Harbor is almost 20 miles with lots of elevation gain. We decided against this and found two spots on the Conservancy's shuttle service. These vans operate between Avalon and Two Harbors, with stops at the Black Jack drop-off, the airport (Airport in the Sky, KAVX) and Little Harbor. Some versions of the route are seasonal, so make sure to check your details. Our plan was to book passage from Avalon to the airport so we can hike the cca. 6 miles down to Little Harbor.

Shuttles were mostly full, too, but after lots of clicking around and a few phone calls, the trip was booked: Thursday's morning boat from Long Beach to Avalon, then the noon shuttle to the airport. From there, hike to Little Harbor, spend two nights, then hike over to Two Harbors, spend another night. Finally, take Sunday's noon boat back to the mainland.

The weather looked so-so, mostly cloudy with a small chance of rain. At least it wasn't supposed to be very windy.

Day 1 – L.A. to Avalon, KAVX, Little Harbor

We had tickets for the 9:50am ferry, meaning we didn't have to get up crazy early, but it was a weekday, so we left early enough not to get stuck in the morning rush hour.

Parking at the ferry terminal is easy, but it's expensive as there's no other option. Well, it's what it is.

We got in line just in time to beat the crowds, then right on schedule, the boat pushed off, gliding past the Queen Mary and out of the harbor. The sea was relatively calm, a welcome detail as the last few years we both started getting sea sick.

Just off Avalon, a huge, super ugly Disney cruise ship was anchored, somewhat spoiling the otherwise beautiful landscape. If I had to spend any considerable time on such a ship, I'd blow my brains out, that's sure.

Upon landing, we ran into several groups from the ship, being herded like cattle. We couldn't stop making fun of them (we can be so mean).

We had almost two hours to kill. First, we took care of the fuel situation, yet another Catalina-specific problem. Pressurized containers are not allowed on the ferry. If you're using a propane camp stove, you have to buy it on the island. It's crazy expensive, and a lot of people simply don't care about this rule, they take their own cans anyway. We didn't and paid almost three times the normal price. By the way, I called the store ahead of time to make sure they had it in stock.

Time passed quickly. After eating the sandwiches packed, we walked around for a bit, then made our way back to the store where the shuttle was supposed to leave from. The van showed up right on time, with a very nice lady at the wheel. After crossing town, the road climbs out of Avalon's canyon, passing a gate (only special-use vehicles are permitted on the roads outside Avalon) and curving its way up the hill. Soon, the harbor and town below looks tiny – I have a shot of the cruise ship out the van's window that looks like we're in a low-flying airplane.

The road winds above green (this time of year) hills on the ridge, past the spur to Black Jack camp, then approaches the airport.

We were told some bison are around the area, and lo and behold, just before arriving at the main gate, there was a nice-sized group of about 20-30 individuals, next to where the TCT comes in from Black Jack. Upon disembarking and saying our goodbyes, we walked back to take a few photos, from far away of course.

Then we started our hike proper on the continuation of the TCT, going around the airport's runway. More bison were on the other side, making for another great photo op. The weather was cool and it kept looking like it might rain, but nothing came of it.

The trail from the airport down to Little Harbor is a hoot, at least in that direction. The vista is amazing and it's mostly downhill, losing all it's 1,600 feet in cca. six miles. Some parts are trail, some dirt road, all in great shape. A few other hikers were in front and behind us, but far enough to enjoy some solitude.

The approximate destination can be seen all the way from the airport, but from about three trail miles out, the distinctive shape of the cove comes into view, along with the Whale's Tail, the famous rock jutting out into the little bay, diving it into Little Harbor on the north side and Shark Harbor on the south.

We walked into camp at 4:30pm, taking us around two and a half hours from the airport, including snack- and photo breaks.

The campground is huge, with 34 sites dispersed over an area almost a third of a mile square. Some sites are right on the beach among palm trees, others up on the bluff, a few more behind the bluff. From last time, we remembered the ones protected by the bluff being the most sheltered from the wind, so we reserved a spot there (the beach spots were taken anyway).

The sites are fancy: each spot has a sun shelter, one or two picnic tables, a fire ring with a bench, a trash can and a mountain-style bear box. Here it protects your stuff from extremely smart foxes, ravens and other animals. Restrooms are reasonably clean port-a-potties in several locations. There's a central area with a fish-cleaning station, outdoor showers and an info kiosk.

Firewood gathering is strictly prohibited, but Em wanted to have a campfire, so we splurged and asked for two bundles of firewood to be delivered (you can do this when reserving the campsite).

Despite the clouds, it was a great day, not cold at all and most importantly, not very windy. The sites right next to us were empty. We quickly unpacked some of the gear, ate soup, then put everything the in the bear box and went for a walk to the water. The cove has a great sandy beach, perfect for a quick dip or launching kayaks if the weather allows. I decided to go for a swim the following day if the sun comes out. A small sailboat was anchored about a hundred yards offshore, and we could see people making dinner on board while the boat was bobbing up and down in the waves. What a life! (If you don't get sea sick.)

We climbed the Whale's Tail, taking some photos of the water and the flora (great Dudleyas and cactuses on the rocks), then returned to our site the long way, via Shark Harbor's beach on the Tail's south side. There are three more campsites there, right above the high tide line. Fantastic location, but very exposed.

Em just needed another jacket, we picked that up, then went back to the Tail to watch the sunset. Of course, several other people had the same idea, but it wasn't very crowded. The sun peaked out from behind the clouds just before setting. Note to geology buffs: the Whale's Tail is made of metagreywhacke, a metamorphic rock created during tectonic plates subduction, resistant to erosion. That's why it's still there.

We made a small fire, had dinner, then decided to go to bed early and save most of the firewood for the second evening. The night was quiet, we had no neighbors in our immediate area, and the quiet sounds of the surf breaking made sleep easy.

Day 2 – Little Harbor to Ben Weston Beach and back

Despite trying to sleep in, we got up around 8:30am. The weather was calm, cloudy and somewhat cool. We took it very slow, first a long breakfast, followed by a walk to the beach.

It was past 10:30 by the time we packed lunch and set off for our day hike. The clouds broke up a bit and the sun kept peeking out. We walked over to the Shark Harbor side of the campground and climbed the use trail to the road, following it south for a while, gaining at least 300' in elevation. This of course made for great views all around. Another bit further south, we dropped down to Cottonwood Beach, following a very steep and faint use trail, being careful not to damage anything. The far side had a much better trail, even featuring a few steps, leading back up to the road where a signed proclaimed it's day use only. Understandable, given the proximity to Little Harbor.

The biggest surprise of the day awaited us just down the road: right in a bend, in sort of small ditch, we spied a gigantic, brown, hairy back peeking out from behind the berm. We were only about 120' away. Then the bison bull slowly lifted his head, the huge horns coming into view. He didn't rise, only looked at us briefly.

After backtracking a few dozen feet, we realized we can easily cut the corner on the hillside, so a minute later we emerged well above him. He still didn't stir, but for a while we kept looking back to make sure we're not being followed.

The road gains more altitude, passes by the turnoff to the Ben Weston overlook (more about this later), then contours inland, dropping to the bottom of Ben Weston Canyon. Here a trail starts down the canyon, right across a small parking lot. At that time, only one car was there.

The trail is gorgeous, first undulating through a dense riparian area. There was even a bit of water in the creek. We kept looking for bison or other mammals, but couldn't see anything.

After about a mile or less, the canyon opens up a bit and becomes a small flood plain before ending at Ben Weston beach. It's a fantastic place, with a few palm trees and even an old shelter with a two picnic tables. According to some, this is also technically a campsite, but the use rules are unclear. The beach itself is about 250 yards in length. The waves battering the shore, along with visible rip currents were enough to dispel any ideas of swimming.

Three people were sitting at one of the tables, welcoming us to sit at the other. During lunch, we made friends quickly. It turned out they were volunteers for the Catalina Conservancy, doing beach cleanup. They didn't have to ask us, after lunch we joined them and spent well over an hour picking up trash. It's a very Sisyphean task, I'm sure it barely made a dent in the big scheme of things, but even a tiny bit is better than nothing.

The total all of us collected amounted to a few large trash bags, which – after another nice break by the tables – we helped carry back to the car.

They offered to shuttle us back to the campground, which we declined, but we did hitch a quick ride up the hill to the turnoff for the overlook. After saying our goodbyes, we walked the half-mile spur to the end of the point. The ruins of a military installation are still there, a small bunker with some roofing intact and the base of an artillery-, rocket- or radar battery.

The place offers perfect bird-eyes views of Ben Weston Beach below and looking the other way, almost all to the west end of Catalina.

By the way, one of the Conservancy ladies told us it's very much possible to climb down to the beach from there. Supposedly there's a faint use trail (we didn't see it) and one has to be careful not to get cliffed out.

We went another few hundred feet out on the point, sitting down on a beautiful grassy area, watching the ocean and eating a quick snack. It was past 3:30pm, time to head back, but of course right there was another beautiful crop of Dudleyas (actually, several), making for great photos.

Finally, by about 4pm, we were on the main road again, walking back. Approaching the bend where the bison was, we could see from far away that he's gone and couldn't make him out anywhere nearby. We took a photo of the place where he'd been. The berm on the side was easily three feet high, and almost half his back was visible from the other side, while laying down!

Five pm found us back at camp. The weather was still mostly sunny, the air pretty warm, so I decided to go for a swim. Em declined to join me, opting for taking pictures instead. The cove's water was calm and way less cold than the "usual" mountain lakes, so I got in and splashed around for a few minutes. Then we went back to our spot, showered, ate soup and climbed the Whale's Tail yet again to watch the sunset. On the south side, where we came from earlier, we spotted a huge bison grazing on the hillside, slowly but surely headed in the direction of the camp. Somehow, we were certain that's the guy we saw on the road.

The sunset was even better than the first evening, with less clouds, but still some to make it dramatic. Cheesy as hell on photos (and especially if you'd paint it) but fantastic in real life.

On the way back to our site, we saw an island fox (Urocyon littoralis) looking for scraps under one of the picnic tables. These small foxes, endemic to six of the eight Channel Island, have been nearly extinct, but heroic efforts by conservationists restored their population somewhat. You can read more about them in other trip reports, including the one where an especially cunning individual stole Em's knife. The foxes are officially classified as "threatened", and that might change for the worse as supposedly golden eagles have appeared on the island again, and they're the most prolific killers of these foxes.

The one we were watching started eyeing some food left on the table (big mistake), but before we had to intervene, the site's occupants returned and secured everything. It seemed earlier they didn't really believe animals could get to the food this fast.

Of course, everybody was in awe how cute the fox was and despite the failing light, we all took many photos.

Back at our own site, we made a nice fire and cooked dinner (on the gas stove). One of our neighbors joined us, a world traveler also from Europe, and we stayed up late, enjoying the fire and sharing stories.

Day 3 – Little Harbor to Two Harbors

We got up at 8am. Cloudy again, but no rain. As soon as we emerged from the tent, we heard some commotion from the hilltop right next to our site, and saw an angry bison, facing a ranger's pickup which was honking and lurching towards it. The bison huffed in frustration, then retread into the bushes.

All this took mere seconds, no time to get photos. However, we saw that the bison circled around to the backside of the camp – actually, we didn't see him, only heard him tromp though the vegetation. We had the cameras ready by now, waiting for him to show up again.

At one point we got a glimpse of him simply walking through a huge, thick wall of brush like it was nothing. He wasn't in any hurry by this time, it was not a flight reaction. He just didn't care that there was some dense vegetation that would have stopped even a large car. When he emerged on the far side, a few not-so-small branches were hanging from his horns like a tiara.

I slowly inched closer – but I was still at least 200 feet away – and started shooting with the long lens. What a magnificent sight! The bull didn't give a damn about me, thankfully, and slowly grazed his way up the hillside.

He was still around over half an hour later, after we finished breakfast and packed up. We took a few more shots, then finally, around 10am, set off for Two Harbors. It was completely overcast, a bit chilly, but not unpleasantly so.

The trail zigzags its way up the hill on the northwest side of the campground. These are some of the very few actual switchbacks on the TCT, most of it being straight trails or old farm roads with unbelievably steep grades (as I have mentioned this several times).

The top of the hill affords great views of the campground and the two little coves, then turns north, steadily gaining elevation. It was foggy and misting a little bit, but it didn't turn into real rain. Both the coast and the interior looked very dramatic with all the drifting fog, and we were having a good time.

About a mile from Little Harbor, a landslide took out part of the cliff and the trail, and while there's plenty of room for the trail to go around it, it's still humbling to see how water can erode so much landmass quickly.

It's up and up, to almost 1,000' above sea level, followed by a little dip, then back up with a vengeance to over 1,200'. It's mostly on the ridge, and some short sections are almost comically steep. There's a shelter at the high point (1,220' on Google Earth) but we didn't consider taking a break there, it was a bit windy and misty. Looked great in drifting the fog, though.

From there it's mostly downhill, easy going, the trail soon turning into a wider dirt road (it even has a name here: Bannig House Road). Emerging from the fog, Two Harbors came into view at noon, and about 45 minutes later we walked into town. I can't resist to repeat: Two Harbors is super cool and charming.

The diner was open, and we learned they're closing in a few minutes, at 1pm! Our order was still taken, and we had two nice sandwiches. (Note: all shops and restaurants there have constantly changing hours, so make sure to do your research if you're planning to visit and want to access them).

We took a really long time, well over an hour, eating slowly and talking to the locals. I even went to the kayak rental shack and did a bit of research about a possible kayak trip next time. The lady there was very helpful and friendly.

Two Harbors Campground is almost half a mile east of the landing, at the end of a trail following the coastline (there's also a dirt road in the back, if you're paying for gear haul, that's how they'll deliver your stuff with trucks).

The camp is relatively large, with the sites spread out somewhat. A lot of them have sun shelters. The spots right on the bluff have the best ocean views, but I think the most desirable sites are further up the hillside, partially surrounded by trees. We camped in one of those at the end of our aforementioned 2013 TCT hike and it was great.

This time… oh my… The spot we got was all the way on the far side, on a barren piece of dirt right by the service road, close to the restroom and the dumpster. When first seeing it, we both groaned, but quickly agreed that at least it has decent ocean views, it's for one night only, and we won't spend much time by the tent anyway.

We didn't. After pitching the tent and securing the gear, we walked down to the water, to the little beach on the right, then continued on a trail circling the bluff on the very edge. A few people were snorkeling right in front of us, enjoying the kelp forest.

This trail is great, few people venture there and it gets you nice views of the coastal flora and small cliffs. It eventually dead ends on the near side of Fisherman's Cove. The cove proper houses the USC Dornsife Wrigley Marine Science Center, a well-equipped research facility available to a wide variety of entities.

The weather stayed the same: cloudy, cool, but not cold and not windy.

After returning to the campground, we went for another walk, back through town to the other end of the isthmus. The island is less than a quarter mile wide here, the north side (facing the mainland) called Isthmus Cove, the far side called Catalina Harbor. We stayed on the right (west) side, walking to the point where the TCT starts up the hill.

Then it was back to our oh-so-cozy spot to have dinner. We chatted with some neighbors, went down to the water, then called it a night around 10pm. Despite the campground being full, it was reasonably quiet and we slept well.

Day 4 – Two Harbors to the mainland

The boat was leaving only at 11:45am. After getting up 7am, I saw hummingbirds on the bushes nearby and set out to get a few photos. All through breakfast, I kept returning for more shots, but then we packed up and left. The weather was almost the same as the day before, maybe a little bit less cloudy.

As there was plenty of time, we went back out to the far side of the isthmus, this time on the left, and walked to the end of the point where a bench awaits the weary traveler. It was nice sitting there, reviewing the trip, talking about the next one.

At 11am, we lined up for the boat, which showed up on time, and by 1:15pm, it was back in Los Angeles Harbor. From here, a rideshare car took us back to our car in Long Beach and we drove home through some Sunday traffic.

Notes:

Like I always say, Catalina camping can be expensive, cumbersome to organize, and generally "weird", but it's worth it, the island is magic. Same with concessions and transportation, both to and within the island. Don't take any details in this article for granted, research the actual conditions from official sources well in advance.

Make sure to check out all the pictures in the full gallery.